Top-Down Attentional Processing and Relational Density Evident in Word Search Performance of Children.

Relational frame theory and extensions (e.g., relational density theory; Belisle & Dixon, 2020a, 2020b) provides a behavioral model for top-down attentional processing, where attention is oriented in terms of arbitrarily applicable verbal relations through the transformation of stimulus function. Children's games may provide a strategy for testing transformations of stimulus function when developing new language skills, such as when working with children with autism. Three children with autism underwent relational training to establish lean and dense arbitrary classes. Prior-to relational training, participants were more likely to locate familiar words over unfamiliar words within a word-search task. Following relational training, participants were more likely to locate words that participated in high-density relational classes over neutral or low-density relational classes. These results support the use of common games to supplement relational training with children with autism and provide evidence that top-down attentional processing may involve transformations of stimulus function and can be predicted and influenced through relational training to establish high-density relational classes.

Relational Verbal Behavior and Eco-Friendly Purchasing: A Preliminary Translational Analysis and Implications.

Consumer behavior is impacting Earth's climate, and solving the climate change crisis will necessarily involve influencing the anthropogenic causes of behavior. The present study evaluated relational frames involving comparative climate relations on consumer choices in a simulated purchasing task. In baseline, participants selected among common household commodities that differed along three dimensions: color, an unfamiliar symbol (Y and Z), and price. Price was sequentially increased for the product with the Z symbol. All participants showed maximum sensitivity to price in baseline, where any increase for Z led to selection of Y across commodities. Relational training involved selecting among climate related stimuli in the presence of the symbols Y and Z, where correct responding occurred when participants selected the more harmful stimulus in the presence of Y and the less harmful stimulus in the presence on Z. A generalization test showed that correct responding transferred to novel stimulus arrangements based on climate impact. In the post-training purchasing phase, six of the seven participants showed reduced sensitivity to increases in price, where price and symbol appeared to interact to influence purchasing. These results have implications for a science of consumer behavior related to climate change from an RFT account.

Evidence From Children with Autism that Derived Relational Responding is a Generalized Operant.

We conducted an empirical examination of derived relational responding as a generalized operant and concurrently evaluated the validity and efficacy of program items contained in the Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge - Equivalence (PEAK-E) curriculum. A first study utilized a multiple-baseline across-skills experimental arrangement to determine the efficacy of equivalence-based instruction guided by PEAK-E, replicated across 11 children with autism. A total of 33 individualized skills were taught, and the subsequent emergence of untrained relations was tested throughout the investigation. The mastery criterion was achieved for 29 of the 33 instructional targets. Additionally, for 3 participants, results were again replicated with a novel set of stimuli. A second study evaluated the degree to which multiple-exemplar equivalence-based instruction led to the emergence of derived relational responding as a generalized operant. The organized nature of the PEAK curriculum allowed the impact on derived relational responding to be compared to that produced by earlier PEAK models that are focused on the direct training of traditional verbal operants. PEAK-E instruction was introduced in a multiple-baseline design across two participants, with a third staying in a training baseline throughout. Increases in derived relational responding using novel, untrained stimuli were only observed when multiple-exemplar equivalence-based instruction was introduced. Taken together, these results provide support for derived relational responding as a generalized operant and demonstrate the utility of conducting larger scale evaluations of higher order behavioral phenomena in single-case experimental arrangements.

An Analysis of Literature on Sport Officiating Research.

Sport officials are crucial members of sport. Researchers have studied their roles numerous times, with results often informing sport procedures (e.g., athlete order in artistic sports). As the research on sport officiating spans five decades and several topics of interest, it is important that researchers periodically synthesize the literature. Purpose: The purpose of this study, therefore, was to conduct an analysis of literature on sport officiating research. Method: Guided by previous researchers, we executed four methodological steps including the article search, article retrieval, sample validity, and article coding. These steps yielded 386 articles for analysis, which ranged from 1971 to 2018. We coded the articles based on four main categories: article information, participant demographics, contextual information, and methodology. Results: Key findings from this analysis include a recent influx in sport officiating research, a vast number of publication journals, few studies dedicated to female-only participants, many studies missing relevant demographic information, an over-representation of interactors, and a reliance on quantitative studies. Conclusions: Though many researchers have conducted studies on sport officiating, several articles had poor methodological rigor (e.g., not reporting key demographic information). In the discussion and conclusion sections, we highlight strengths and weaknesses within the field and provide recommendations to guide future researchers and practitioners, to ensure robust research designs and guide applied practice.

Generalized Reflexive Responding and Cross-Modal Tactile Transfer of Stimulus Function in Children with Autism.

We sought to evaluate the efficacy of successive matching training for establishing generalized reflexive matching across 4 children with autism. In Experiment 1, differential reinforcement with delay fading was efficacious in establishing "yes" and "no" matching and nonmatching responses in 2 participants when 2 identical or nonidentical picture stimuli were presented. In addition, emergent visual-visual reflexive relational responses were observed using novel picture stimuli in a transfer test phase. In Experiment 2, differential reinforcement alone was efficacious in establishing matching and nonmatching responses in the other 2 participants when 2 identical or nonidentical objects were presented. Transfer to identical objects presented through touch (i.e., tactile discrimination) was additionally observed for both participants. Procedures in the study were adapted from the PEAK Relational Training System to aid in clinical replication, and the translational results have implications for language training with individuals with autism.

Evaluating the Emergence of the Transformation of Stimulus Function through Representational Drawing in Children with Autism.

The present study aimed to evaluate the utility of representational drawing as an alternative to selection-based responses for evaluating the emergence of the transformation of stimulus function. Two children with autism were initially taught relations among pictures, arbitrary symbols, and arbitrary words. Nonreinforced tests were also conducted to evaluate the possibility of a transformation of stimulus function across stimuli when presented with a generative drawing task. The results suggested that both participants responded at high accuracy following initial training and also were able to transform the functions of these training stimuli such that novel drawings that were never reinforced actually emerged under extinction conditions. These data add to the body of literature supporting the utility of exposing children with autism to applied behavior-analytic interventions that incorporate derived relational responding as a target operant, and this generalized operant also is capable of a transformation of stimulus function.

Establishing Multiple-Control Responding of Children with Autism to People and Emotions in Context by Utilizing Derived Stimulus Relations.

This study evaluated the efficacy of a set of procedures in evoking responding under multiple stimulus control (identifying emotions when provided a person and context) in a match-to-sample arrangement. Three participants with autism achieved a mastery criterion following direct training of the target relations, and two of the participants additionally demonstrated derived relations without direct training (identifying people when provided an emotion and context). Corrective procedures were effective in promoting the emergence of derived relations for the third participant. These data suggest that incorporating derived stimulus relation training and testing procedures may have utility for clinical interventions in children with autism.

Teaching Children with Autism to Tact the Private Events of Others.

We evaluated the efficacy of a most-to-least intrusive error-correction/prompting procedure for teaching 3 children with autism to tact the private events of others through publicly accompanying stimuli. Participants did not reliably demonstrate correct tact responses to publicly observable stimuli that accompany common emotions reported by others (e.g., bandage = hurt) in baseline. Procedures were taken from the Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge Relational Training System: Direct Training Module (PEAK-DT) to aid in clinical replication, and training was introduced in a multiple-baseline design. Results showed that the procedures were efficacious in teaching this skill to each of the participants, and fast rates of acquisition were observed.

Establishing arbitrary comparative relations and referential transformations of stimulus function in individuals with autism.

Relational Frame Theory posits that complex language develops through arbitrarily applicable relational networks, with potential implications for individuals with autism. Responding relationally based on comparison occurs when participants respond to any number of comparative properties, such as "bigger" or "faster." Experiment 1 established two 3-member comparative networks, in which a stimulus A was conditioned as "bigger" or "faster" than a stimulus B, and the stimulus B was conditioned as "bigger" or "faster" than a stimulus C in 2 children with autism. Both participants met the mastery criterion for the trained relations and demonstrated the emergence of the untrained combinatorially entailed A-C and C-A relations. The participants could also match the arbitrary A stimuli with larger or faster objects and the C stimuli with smaller or slower objects. The results were replicated in Experiment 2 with the same participants, where a 5-member relational network was established for the bigger/smaller relation.

Abstraction of tactile properties by individuals with autism and Down syndrome using a picture-based communication system.

The present study evaluated the efficacy of a set of procedures for bringing tact extensions of abstract tactile properties under stimulus control. Two participants with disabilities who communicated via a picture-based communication system received reinforcement for tacts of tactile properties of four wet/dry and four hard/soft stimuli. Test trials were conducted to evaluate the extent to which the participants' correct responding generalized to novel stimuli with the same tactile properties. The results suggest that the procedures were effective in bringing tact extensions of abstract tactile properties under stimulus control. Both participants' correct responding generalized to a set of novel stimuli. Mastery level responding to training and test targets maintained for 2 weeks following training. The results provide further evidence supporting the use of DTT to teach stimulus abstraction to nonvocal verbal individuals who use augmentative forms of communication.

Teaching Children with Autism to Identify Private Events of Others in Context.

Many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder have difficulties identifying and labeling emotions of others. Three adolescent males all diagnosed with ASD participated in the study. In a multi-element design, the participants were trained to tact private events of others in context using novel video-based scenarios. Two of the three participants were able to increase and maintain their responding for all trained, derived, and transformation of stimulus function relations. The third participant required multiple-exemplar training of novel stimuli to increase his responding for all the video-based scenarios. The results of the study support the utility of relational training for teaching children with autism to identify private events of others in context.

The Mediating Effects of Derived Relational Responding on the Relationship Between Verbal Operant Development and IQ.

Dixon, Belisle, and Stanley, (2018) demonstrated a strong, significant relationship between derived relational responding and intelligence in individuals with autism. We extended these results by evaluating the degree to which participant results on the PEAK Equivalence Pre-assessment (PEAK-E-PA, a direct assessment of derived relational responding) mediated the relationship between the PEAK Direct Training Assessment (PEAK-DT-A, a Skinnerian-based assessment of verbal development) and intelligence. Results support strong, positive correlations between both assessments (PEAK-DT-A and PEAK-E-PA) and IQ; however, the relationship between PEAK-DT-A and IQ could be explained in terms of participant results on the PEAK-E-PA alone. This finding corresponds with Relational Frame Theory, suggesting that derived responding can provide a behavioral interpretation of intelligent behavior, as well as Skinner's elementary operants.

Equivalence-based instruction of academic skills: Application to adolescents with autism.

This study evaluated the efficacy of three equivalence-based instruction procedures on the acquisition of novel academic skills by 3 adolescents diagnosed with autism in a school setting. The skills targeted for instruction were related to topics in history, science, and mathematics, and were taught using different training structures from the PEAK-E curriculum. All participants demonstrated mastery of the trained relations and the tested derived relations following all variants of equivalence-based instruction.

Teaching metaphorical extensions of private events through rival-model observation to children with autism.

The study evaluated the efficacy of observational learning using the rival-model technique in teaching three children with autism to state metaphorical statements about emotions when provided a picture, as well as to intraverbally state an appropriate emotion when provided a scenario and corresponding metaphorical emotion. The results provide a preliminary evaluation of how an observational teaching strategy may be effective in teaching children with autism to correctly tact emotions when given metaphors.

Establishing auditory-tactile-visual equivalence classes in children with autism and developmental delays.

The current study sought to evaluate the efficacy of a stimulus equivalence training procedure in establishing auditory-tactile-visual stimulus classes with 2 children with autism and developmental delays. Participants were exposed to vocal-tactile (A-B) and tactile-picture (B-C) conditional discrimination training and were tested for the emergence of vocal-picture (A-C) and picture-vocal (C-A) responses. The results demonstrated that, following training, both participants responded successfully on both the training stimulus arrangements and the test probes that were never trained, illustrating emergence of cross-modal transitive and equivalence relations.

Establishing Derived Equivalence Relations of Basic Geography Skills in Children with Autism.

The present study evaluated the efficacy of a stimulus-equivalence training procedure in teaching basic geography skills to two children with autism. The procedures were taken directly from a standardized training curriculum based in stimulus equivalence theory called Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge Equivalence Module (PEAK-E). Results suggest that the procedures were efficacious in directly training several geographical relations, as well as promoting the derivation of several untrained relations for three countries and their corresponding continents. In addition, responding generalized from selecting countries on a tabletop paper map to selecting countries on an interactive touchscreen map.

Establishing derived categorical responding in children with disabilities using the PEAK-E curriculum.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate a procedure to generate derived categorical responding by three children with disabilities and to promote the emergence of untrained intraverbal categorical responses. In the study, three 4-member equivalence classes including three stimuli (A, B, and C) and a category name (D) for each class were trained using a match-to-sample procedure. Test probes were conducted for categorical responding, including both a trained (D-A) and two derived (D-B, D-C) relational responses, as well as the emergence of untrained intraverbal categorical responding (D-A/B/C) throughout the study. Relational training was effective at promoting the emergence of categorical responding, and two of the three participants demonstrated the emergence of additional intraverbal responding without prior training. The results provide further evidence supporting the practical utility of stimulus equivalence as well as the PEAK-E curriculum.

Derived Equivalence Relations of Geometry Skills in Students with Autism: an Application of the PEAK-E Curriculum.

The present study evaluated the efficacy of equivalence-based instruction (EBI) as described in the PEAK-E curriculum (Dixon, 2015) for promoting the emergence of derived geometry skills in two children with high-functioning autism. The results suggested that direct training of shape name (A) to shape property (B) (i.e., A-B relations) was effective for both participants. Following A-B training, both participants demonstrated emergent relations that are consistent with symmetry (B-A), as well as emergent shape name (A) to shape picture (C) relations that are consistent with transitivity (A-C). The results expand on existing literature by demonstrating the emergence of an A-C relation when neither A nor B stimuli were ever trained to C stimuli and illustrate the efficacy of EBI for training geometry skills.

Teaching foundational perspective-taking skills to children with autism using the PEAK-T curriculum: single-reversal "I-You" deictic frames.

We taught basic perspective-taking tasks to 3 children with autism and evaluated their ability to derive mutually entailed single-reversal deictic relations of those newly established perspective-taking skills. Furthermore, we examined the possibility of transfers of perspective-taking function to novel untrained stimuli. The methods were taken from the PEAK-T training curriculum, and results yielded positive gains for all 3 children to learn basic perspective taking as well as for 2 of the 3 to derive untrained single-reversal I relations following direct training of single-reversal You relations. All participants demonstrated a transfer of stimulus function to untrained stimuli after the single-reversal deictic relations had been mastered.